Thank you to curator, Marsha Ingrao, for hosting the Story Chat Digest on her lovely blog, Always Write. You can find out more about Story Chat Digest as well as how to submit your stories and/or poems here: https://alwayswrite.blog/join-story-chat-digest-2026-an-online-writing-community-for-all-authors/.
Story Chat Digest forms the basis of the Story Chat Digest anthology making it a unique and interesting collection.
About Story Chat Digest Where Stories Meet: An Anthology of Short Stories & Poems (Story Chat Series Book 3)
Story Chat Digest Where Stories Meet An Anthology of Short Stories and Poems
Story Chat Digest Where Stories Meet brings together a vibrant collection of short fiction and contemporary poetry from writers across continents. Each piece stands on its own, yet together they form a thoughtful conversation about life’s moments—large and small, joyful and difficult, humorous and reflective.
Within these pages, you’ll encounter stories that linger like candlelit conversations and poems that capture the quiet textures of everyday life. Mystery, memory, family, resilience, faith, and friendship all find their place in this rich and varied collection.
The anthology grew out of the Story Chat community—an international group of writers and readers who share a love of storytelling and the discussions stories inspire. Throughout the book, readers will find Book Club Questions and Story Chat reflections designed to encourage conversation and deeper engagement.
Whether you are reading alone or with friends, this anthology invites you to pause, reflect, and enjoy the power of stories shared across cultures and experiences.
Story Chat Digest Where Stories Meet is more than a collection of writing—it is an invitation to join the circle where stories meet, and conversations begin.
Purchase Story Chat Digest Where Stories Meet: An Anthology of Short Stories & Poems (Story Chat Series Book 3)
A 5 star review of Story Chat Digest Where Stories Meet: An Anthology of Short Stories & Poems (Story Chat Series Book 3)
This is such a cool idea for an anthology: There are stories and poems on a wide variety of subjects. Plus there are discussions about those stories and poems between the authors who wrote them. Readers see the prompts that the authors used, and pieces are grouped around those prompts/themes. Stories are flash length. Poems are free verse or sonnets or narrative or image-rich. It’s all good stuff.
My favorites were pieces that got me thinking about life and my relationships, starting with “Countdown” by Grant P. Ferguson. What would you do differently if you knew how long you had left to live? If you knew how long someone else had left to live, would you tell them? Tough questions. That’s what Ferguson’s protagonist had to deal with.
In “A Slight Delay” by Philip Cumberland, Samantha and her younger brother encounter a dangerous situation which got me wondering what I’d do in her shoes.
I enjoyed the poem “My Brother’s Soul” by Richard Daniels because it made me stop and ponder the nature of human souls.
The older I get, the more I think about aging, and Cathy Cade’s story, “As Old as We Feel” drove that point home. May our society respect and treat our elders kindly! (It was the perfect story for the section in the anthology of Quiet Endings.)
I could go on, but just know it’s a unique anthology with many different voices from around the world, giving readers different perspectives and different things to think about.
About Marsha Ingrao
Marsha Ingrao is the founder and online host of the Story Chat community and the compilation editor of the Story Chat series. A lifelong educator, she continues to foster global literary conversation through blogging, collaborative anthologies, and virtual gatherings.
After retiring from public education, she expanded her work into writing, photography, and publishing. She believes strongly in lifelong learning and the power of shared storytelling to build connections across cultures.
Blog:www.alwayswrite.blog
roberta-writes.com 
It’s such an achievement to start an on line project where everyone can share and to follow up with published collections. It took us years and years to get one collection published at our little writers’ group!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I imagine that could easily be the case with publishing collections. Marsha is very efficient.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are kind. I’ve had help! 🙂 xxx
LikeLike
It took us years, too, Janet. The first two years, we didn’t publish anything. Then in 2023, we put the first two years together, and created a short book. They have gotten longer and now include poetry, but the first one is the hardest! Congratulations on making it happen. 🙂 xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for promoting Story Chat Digest!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay, Robbie! xxxxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sounds like an interesting idea and collection!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Merril, it certainly is a unique idea.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I agree!
LikeLike
The variety of authors and perspectives make it very interesting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an interesting and fun idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is fun, Dale. Hugh Roberts and I came up with the idea when I asked him to write a guest post and he asked if he could write a story. The next thing you know, we thought about a book club only for stories. That was about 5 years ago.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So very cool!
LikeLike
A lovely intro to the book, Robbie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, Sadje!
LikeLiked by 1 person
She is so amazing- doing so much.
LikeLike
Marsha has done an amazing job with this book.
Thank you for sharing Robbie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Maggie. I hope people love it. I think it is a great collection. I love the addition of poetry.
LikeLike
Oh, I loved Story Chat Digest Where Stories Meet! Everyone should read it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Priscilla. Your review is awesome. Could we clone it, like 100x??? Just kidding. Each review is super special.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds lovely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Chris. That is the goal. I loved working with all these authors. We have another collection already started this year, if you want to join us. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would be honoured. I must have another good look about that. Thanks a lot, Marsha!
LikeLike
Thank you for this Robbie ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sounds like a fun and engaging collection of stories and verse. Thanks Robbie.
LikeLike
Congratulations to Marsha and contributors! Sharing to help spread the word.
LikeLike
I love this idea. I’ll be checking it out!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This must be great! Like Joy, I’ll check it out.
LikeLike